Latest Posts
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Making Room
For many years, we had a Page orange tree in our backyard that produced some of the sweetest citrus I have ever tasted. It was such a dependable giver; every spring its shiny green leaves would explode with delicate white blossoms whose fragrance could stop you in your tracks. The blossoms gave way to delicious… Continue reading
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The Stories that Bind Us
We were getting ready to leave town for the weekend to celebrate the life of my stepmother Joan with my brothers and sisters in Mount Dora, Florida. My daughter Alexis had agreed to stop by the house while we were gone to make sure our four chickens had fresh water and food, so we were… Continue reading
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Queen of the Night
What is the point of an exquisitely beautiful flower that only blooms once a year for a few hours – and only in the dark, so no one even sees it unless they go outside in the middle of the night with a flashlight before it wilts away? Well, that’s exactly what my friend Paula… Continue reading
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Keep on the Sunny Side
I know plants don’t have brains, but sometimes I wonder… I tried again this year to grow a row of sunflowers along the eastern section of our backyard fence. I purposedly planted more than one type of seed, hoping for a dazzling and diverse display of tall, yellow-petaled sun-lovers. The first leafy stalk to escape… Continue reading
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Uprooted for Good
I like to plant seasonal vegetables and herbs in terra cotta pots so I can try new things (and limit my risk of failure) in a small space. When my potted experiments die back at the end of a season, I just pull the spent leaves and stems out of the dirt and fill it… Continue reading
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Banksy Meets The Gleaners
When I started this blog last year, I was hoping to give expression to the fascinating dramas I regularly witness among the plants, bugs, wildlife – and now chickens – that make their home in my backyard. I was familiar with the word “glean”, as defined in the Cambridge Dictionary: “to collect information in small… Continue reading
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Potato Gleanings
Potato plants make good role models. In fact, I wish I could be more like a potato. Potatoes grow steadily and purposefully under the ground until they are mature and ready to be used for good purposes. They are low-maintenance, easy to grow and offer a high return on investment. For every seedling you plant,… Continue reading
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The Rest of the Story*
You can’t plant an old tree. Trees earn their designation as “old” by growing in place over decades, accumulating rings of life and surviving unpredictable cycles of drought, flood, wind, freezing temperatures and heat. Old trees are irreplaceable. You can plant a new tree of the exact same species and variety, but it will never… Continue reading
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Afternoons with Sister Mercy
After a little bunny nibbled his way through our sweet potato crop last fall, I decided to try again with a different type of potato. I cleared the garden bed, raked in several loads of compost from our backyard bin and planted red potato seedlings in neat little rows in the dirt. As soon as… Continue reading
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Aloe There!
Something wasn’t right with Fluff. Our normally energetic and ever-curious young chicken was standing away from the others, not eating and lethargic. When I took a closer look, I noticed her comb had a grayish hue and it was drooping to one side. As I wrote in a previous post, Shelter from the Cold, a… Continue reading
Glean Daily 